The excellent anticancer effect of combined differential cancer therapies has been observed in the last few decades. Efficient theragnostic nanoparticles (NPs) for malignancy treatment have received considerable research attention and widely investigated today. This study presents our results on the development of aptamer-functionalized Fe3O4@carbon@doxorubicin NPs (Apt-Fe3O4@C@DOX) and their application in the synergetic chemo-photothermal therapy (PTT) of cancer. The Apt-Fe3O4@C@DOX NPs displayed high photothermal conversion efficiency and extensive pH/heat-induced drug release. In vitro (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium) bromide experiments indicated that the combined chemo-PTT is much more toxic toward lung adenocarcinoma cells (A549) than PTT or chemotherapy alone. In addition, the Apt-Fe3O4@C@DOX NPs demonstrated decreasing contrast enhancement of magnetic resonance (MR) signals, which means they may be potentially applied as a contrast agent and serve as a critical component of T2-weighted MR imaging of tumor tissues. Taking the results together, the Apt-Fe3O4@C@DOX NPs show great potential for cancer therapy.
Keywords: Aptamer; Chemo–photothermal therapy; MR imaging; T(2)-weighted; Theragnostic nanoparticles.
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